Shipboard bilge water treatment by electrocoagulation powered by microbial fuel cells

Highlights

Reveals the synergy between microbial fuel cells and electrocoagulation.

Demonstrates MFC-ECC shipboard wastewater treatment is advantageous.

MFC-ECC integration enables energy neutral bilge water treatment.

Abstract

Ships generate large amounts of wastewater including oily bilge water, blackwater and greywater. Traditionally they are treated separately with high energy consumption. In this study we demonstrate the feasibility that these waste streams can be treated using an integrated electrocoagulation cell (ECC) and microbial fuel cell (MFC) process, which not only synergized the contaminants removal but also accomplished energy neutrality by directly powering EC with MFC electricity. Results showed that MFC stack powered ECC removed 93% of oily organics, which is comparable to the performance of an external DC voltage powered ECC. In the meantime, more than 80% of COD was removed from MFCs when fed with either acetate or municipal wastewater. Moreover, the ECC electrode area and distance showed notable effects on current generation and contaminants removal, and further studies should focus on operation optimization to enhance treatment efficiency.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Bilge water / Electrocoagulation / Microbial fuel cell / Shipboard wastewater

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the financial support from the Office of Naval Research (N000141612210). The authors also thank to HTI for supplying membrane samples and Mr. Cole Sigmon from Boulder WWTP for providing sludge samples. The State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (Harbin Institute of Technology, QAK201603) also provided support.

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